This Is Summer

When the heat begins to rise in waves from your back,
And sweat pours down our necks and arms,
When we collapse on hot pavement that burns our feet and warps our senses,
This is summer.

When even grass takes on a tanned hue,
And crickets insistently scream at night like thousands of flutes,
When the outside world becomes a stream of gnats and mosquitos,
This is summer.

When we are wrapped in the warmth of the sun that blinks and shimmers above us,
And we fall into bed with heat pressing down on us like sticky maple,
When water becomes a miracle and ice becomes a wish,
This
Is
Summer.